1^st August 2012

Years ago I was pastoring with a Melbourne outreach church primarily amongst the broken people of the so-called subcultural groups: addicts, bikers, the depressed and those with personality split-offs. By God's grace I had ,though not knowing it at the time been prepared for this by personally experiencing an aweful period of depression, despair, hearing voices and understanding a little of what I think Paul referred to as being 'assaulted by lions'.

Two facts, Gospel facts, were eventually the means of my deliverance. Mercy and hope. As I ministered amongst these people a simple clear phrase formed in my mind all those years ago. A phrase that frequently punctuated my conversations and became something like a mantra. It was simply this 'it's all good'. I was convinced that by God's mercy, despair may be for a moment but not for a lifetime, and I wanted to hold out this same hope to others.

It wasn't a cliche then, as it isn't now and once when I said it in the presence of someone in a hard place they said, it's not always good. My reply was if it is not now, it will be. Well it seems the phrase has gone around the world. It's all good. A friend of mine who was manager for an itinerant gospel singer spread it into Asia and the USA. and I noticed the other day Toohey's beer were using it and right now Domino's have it on their pizza boxes: it's all good, with a registered trade mark sign next to it, would you believe!
But the ‘it' refers to everything for all time- and there is only One who can patent that!

Ian Clarkson (First Published in ACCatalyst August 2010)